Xbox One

Well here's what I've come to learn about Xbox One (and correct me wherever I may be wrong):

-Games you buy are tied to your account (much like how Steam works)

-You *might* be able to play games you own on another Xbox One console in your household if you own more than one Xbox One

-You can play a game you take to your friend's house for 1 hour

-A game can only be sold one time after the initial purchase, and it must be to a friend on your friends list who has been a friend for at least 30 days, and the friend will have to pay some sort of fee, the amount which remains undisclosed at this time

-Game discs are really just installation discs and once a game is installed you don't need the disc anymore

-Units at time of release will come with a 500GB hard drive

-The Xbox One MUST connect to the internet once every 24 hours and if it cannot you won't be able to play any games (but you can still watch movies and TV).

-Kinect is required and must be attached to the Xbox One in order for it to operate. When the Xbox One is off, the Kinect is in 'sleep mode' but still able to accept certain commands, such as telling it to turn the Xbox One on.

-Xbox One has a slightly better list of exclusives at time of release than PS4

-PS4 Has slightly better graphics than Xbox One (not that I care)

That's everything I know in bullet point. Feel free to add more or correct/clarify anything above.

I'm not feeling the love for this machine. MS is going nuts with DRM they are like a communist country at this point. Earlier this year MS had a 'for the lifetime of the machine' clause as part of their license agreement for the current version of MS Office. They changed their minds about that. Hope they'll lighten up with this crazy DRM nonsense with the Xbox One or chances are I won't buy one. It's a suckers game paying full price to effectively rent a game. And the Kinect is creepy with it's always on setup - nothing a nice piece of duct tape can't fix though.

-- If I'm right but there is no wife around to acknowledge it, am I still right?

Here is another WTF moment. Isn't it normally the idea to try and dig yourself out of a hole rather than dig it deeper?

Asked if Microsoft anticipated pushback concerning the Xbox One's connectivity and used-game policies, Mattrick said "absolutely," due in part to the vocal nature of gamers.

"It's a super passionate community of people. They're loving what we do," Mattrick said. "It's very important to them and they're opinionated. And they're smart. So they look at all those things and say 'Hey, is this going to impact me in a negative way?'. And until you use it, it's really hard to understand what all the advantages are."

For those who don't have an Internet connection—Mattrick brought up an example of a person living on a submarine—he pointed out that the Xbox 360 is not going away anytime soon.

"Fortunately we have a product for people who aren't able to get some form of connectivity; it's called Xbox 360," Mattrick said. "If you have zero access to the Internet, that is an offline device."

So, apparently the solution for those without internet connections is to buy a soon to be defunct console? Hmm.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
So, apparently the solution for those without internet connections is to buy a soon to be defunct console? Hmm.

Tone deaf is to mild a word to describe MS.

They ignored complaints about Win8 and the Metro UI replacing the Start Button. They released Win8 to spectacularly bad sales. Presto this summer there will be an upgraded version of Win8 with a start button. Go figure.

They ignored complaints about MS Office's 'life of the machine' license policy. They ignored the complainers. They released MS Office. Sales were stagnant. They removed the idiotic 'life of the machine' policy. Sales went up. Hmm… think we're onto something. Er, no…

Along comes the next Xbox. Everyone world-wide really despises the DRM being built into the machine. MS will likely release the machine as stated. Sales will likely be pretty bad. Only after suffering, they'll likely loosen up on the idiotic DRM schemes.

It seems MS MUST go through the exercise of idiocy before the light bulb comes on. Until then, they enjoy running into brick walls, over and over again.

And until you use it, it's really hard to understand what all the advantages are.

I've got news for this guy. Any business model that insists consumers pay full price for something they never will actually own is a deal breaker for a huge number of people. No amount of 'great features' overcomes this. Like selling your soul to the devil so you can be rich and famous in this life. Some people bite at this. But most are smart enough to see the price is way too high.

-- If I'm right but there is no wife around to acknowledge it, am I still right?

Originally Posted by TheMadGamer
Tone deaf is to mild a word to describe MS.

They ignored complaints about Win8 and the Metro UI replacing the Start Button. They released Win8 to spectacularly bad sales. Presto this summer there will be an upgraded version of Win8 with a start button. Go figure.

They ignored complaints about MS Office's 'life of the machine' license policy. They ignored the complainers. They released MS Office. Sales were stagnant. They removed the idiotic 'life of the machine' policy. Sales went up. Hmm… think we're onto something. Er, no…

Along comes the next Xbox. Everyone world-wide really despises the DRM being built into the machine. MS will likely release the machine as stated. Sales will like be pretty bad. Only after suffering, they'll likely loosen up on the idiotic DRM schemes.

It seems MS MUST go through the exercise of idiocy before the light bulb comes on. Until then, they enjoy running into brick walls, over and over again.

They are bringing back the start button but not really. It's not the traditional win7 start button, it's a start button that just takes you to the metro UI.

Originally Posted by Carnifex
Yeah, if I ever buy another console, it will certainly not be an Xbox. Given a choice between this or the new Playstation, it's a total non-brainer for me.

I've always enjoyed consoles and when new ones come out it has always been an exciting time - to see the new tech and what the new machines can do and of course the new games that come out for them.

After this particularly looooonnnggg cycle with the Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3, I had become particularly anxious to see what the next machines would bring. Like just about everyone else, when MS had their reveal I was really sort of stunned at the lack of focus on gaming along with the creepy Kinect and nutty DRM.

Currently I'm more interested in PS4 and Wii U. If I buy any new consoles in the next year it will be one of the two - probably both. I won't be buying an Xbox One unless they totally scrap the authentication schemes they have come up with and allow me to play the games anytime anywhere offline regardless if my Xbox One has connected to the internet in the last 24 hours.

It's doubtful though MS will reverse that course so Xbox One is likely to join a small cast of consoles I've never owned… Dreamcast, Saturn, & Jaguar.

-- If I'm right but there is no wife around to acknowledge it, am I still right?

I am not console player but I hate microsoft with passion so fact that they will lose this duel badly puts smile on my face.I am curious to see research about how much people plans to buy PS4 and how much Xbone, someone probably did research about it if not someone probably will soon.

Originally Posted by Nameless one
I am curious to see research about how much people plans to buy PS4 and how much Xbone, someone probably did research about it if not someone probably will soon.

I am also interested in how this will all unfold as well. I see 3 primary groups:

1 - The informed buyer who will not buy the Xbox One given the DRM restrictions and will resist the temptation to buy the console even when their favorite exclusive game is released on it (I'm in this group quite solidly).

2 - The informed buyer who will buy the Xbox One either because they can't help themselves (get caught up in the drama of the next HALO debut (or other game they want) or simply because they don't care about the DRM restrictions

3 - The Uninformed buyer - those that don't pay close attention to industry trends but still like gaming, or those who buy gaming consoles as gifts (parents, family, close friends etc.)

My guess is that groups 2 and 3 will still represent a healthy number of sales over the life of the console. At the same time, I believe group 1 will represent a large enough group to give MS at least a good black eye and Sony's PS4 a solid lead over the Xbox One.

-- If I'm right but there is no wife around to acknowledge it, am I still right?

Originally Posted by TheMadGamer
3 - The Uninformed buyer - those that don't pay close attention to industry trends but still like gaming, or those who buy gaming consoles as gifts (parents, family, close friends etc.)

I think this group will favor PS4, because Xbone is being laughed at at most forums and basically any place where posting comments is allowed.There is bunch of memes already that make fun of it.Looks like small thing but it can potentially have large impact on this particular group.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
Here is another WTF moment. Isn't it normally the idea to try and dig yourself out of a hole rather than dig it deeper?

So, apparently the solution for those without internet connections is to buy a soon to be defunct console? Hmm.

He also acknowledged that they were aware this would preclude deployed military from using their console. While a bit obvious given the 24-hour check-in requirement, the way in which he went about acknowledging this seemed a bit tone-deaf given the audience.

Originally Posted by Nameless one
I think this group will favor PS4, because Xbone is being laughed at at most forums and basically any place where posting comments is allowed.There is bunch of memes already that make fun of it.Looks like small thing but it can potentially have large impact on this particular group.

That may be true but when I say uninformed buyer I mean the people who are not watching forums or reading anything about what is going. They are the people who one day will walk into a store and say, 'oh look a new Xbox I want one' or 'oh little Jonny might like this.'

-- If I'm right but there is no wife around to acknowledge it, am I still right?

Originally Posted by TheMadGamer
That may be true but when I say uninformed buyer I mean the people who are not watching forums or reading anything about what is going. They are the people who one day will walk into a store and say, 'oh look a new Xbox I want one' or 'oh little Jonny might like this.'

Yeah, but for those buyers the price is also a big factor, and this time the PlayStation is actually significantly cheaper. I also wonder how many of the less aware and tech savvy people buy the new Xbox and fail to understand the always-on requirement/DRM prior to the purchase, resulting in angry customers returning it to their BestBuy/Walmart.

Originally Posted by xSamhainx
Im glad i got so many old console games in my backlog, some of them still the REAL xbox 1, that i could sit out this next console and be fine. So far i see sports and movies, and that disinterests me.

Same here. My kids still love playing Star Wars Battlefront on the first Xbox. I still love firing up my old NES and playing games on that from time to time.

-- If I'm right but there is no wife around to acknowledge it, am I still right?

Originally Posted by xSamhainx
Im glad i got so many old console games in my backlog, some of them still the REAL xbox 1, that i could sit out this next console and be fine.

So far i see sports and movies, and that disinterests me.

I think that one issue for many is that if you have a large backlog you pretty much HAVE to sit out this generation or add more boxes to your living room … which is ironic for systems (XBOne in particular) that are all about 'being the one box'.

We are still in a 'downsized economy', so it is ironic to have consoles that require more space (Kinect needs like a 10' square), require broadband (which millions of households don't have), and force you to restart your game collection.